| Jackdaw With Crowbar | |
| Origin: | Leamington Spa, England |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Years Active: | 1986 - 1992, 2007 - present |
| Label: | Ron Johnson |
| Current Members: | Tim Ellis Adam Sindall Louis Scheuer Avery Green |
| Past Members: | David Tibbatts Dan Morrison Steve Law Fran Juckes Tris King Andy Guthrie Alan McCulloch Andy Grimmer Wilf Plum Charley 'H' Bembridge Fergus Durrant |
Jackdaw with Crowbar is an English multi-media indie band from Leamington Spa.[1] The band was formed in 1985, but consolidated in 1987, when signed to Ron Johnson Records, until it went bust.
Jackdaw with Crowbar's original line-up was Timothy Ellis, Fergus Durrant, Dave Tibbats and Dan Morrison, with Adam Sindall, Steve Law and Fran Juckes making Super 8mm films which were always present in their live performances.[2] This line-up released the band's first three records, Monarchy, Mayhem and Fishpaste, Sink Sank Sunk and Hot Air.[3]
The band contributed to the 1988 compilation album Take Five in aid of the charity Shelter.[4]
In 1991, Jackdaw released Hanging In the Balance, expanding the line-up with Tris King (formerly of Bogshed and later of A Witness),[5] Andy Guthrie, Alan McCulloch (aka "Wak"), Andy Grimmer, Wilf Plum (Dog Faced Hermans) and Charley 'H' Bembridge (The Selecter).
Jackdaw had two John Peel sessions on 19 May 1987 and 4 October 1987.[6] Jackdaw stopped touring around 1991 or 1992. In 2005, "Fuck America" was released on a compilation CD, Commercially Unfriendly: The Best Of British Underground, on Gott Discs.[7] In 2007, Ellis and Sindall started working together and Jackdaw was re-hatched with Fergus Durrant joining soon after. With all new films and songs, Jackdaw released a new EP available from Hybrid Cuts. The 8mm films were replaced by lap tops and video projectors. Jackdaw received air play on BBC Radio 6 in Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone and Don Letts' show.
Jackdaw with Crowbar, in 2018, entered into its third age continuing as a duo, known as Jackdaw with Crowbar, Because You're Worth It, with Ellis and Sindall.
The band's musical style was described by the musician and writer John Robb as a combination of "spiky and dark guitar-driven blues and guitar-punk disco-filth". Discussing the first EP, Monarchy, Mayhem, and Fishpaste, the writer John Corbett described the music as "a song sung through a bull horn ("Crow"), an accordion reggae-dub ("Fourth World"), a two-step featuring slide guitar reminiscent of Zoot Horn Rollo in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band ("The Night Albania Fell on Alabama")."[8] In Corbett's view, "the brief appearance of Jackdaw's records exemplifies the local-mode commodity at both its most appealing and its most politically volatile".
| Year | Title | Label | Catalogue | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Monarchy Mayhem and Fishpaste | ZRON24 | 12-inch single | ||
| Sink Sank Sunk | Ron Johnson Records | ZRON31 | 12-inch single | ||
| 1988 | Hot Air | Ron Johnson Records | ZRON33 | LP | |
| 1989 | First After Epiphany | Ron Johnson Records | ZRON36 | LP | |
| 1991 | Hanging in the Balance | HAX Turino | HAX04 | LP | |
| 2010 | EP200 | Hybrid Cuts | 069CDEP200 | CD EP |